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Chapter 20 - Appeal to the Stars (CF)
Wind whistled around him. He felt... stuck, entrenched in his position of kneeling. He couldn’t see anything, feeling swept up in a dark blackness all around. Wind and movement buffeted him from all sides, and he could hear screaming that felt very, very far away. He couldn’t feel anything beneath his knees, as if he was floating in a void. “Tubba!” A voice snapped loudly. “Tubba!” Father? Tubba wondered. Is that you? Are you the one here to welcome me into the great beyond? There was no way he could come back as a ghost. He knew that. He had to be dead, there was no doubt about it. If he was starting to hear his father... A second voice cut in. “Tubba!” This one sounded higher, like the voice one would hear from a child. Was this one of his relatives he had never met? One that had lived long before his time? “TUBBA IF YOU DON’T WAKE UP I’M GOING TO STICK YOUR CLUB IN PLACES YOU DON’T WANT IT TO BE STUCK!” Tubba’s eyes snapped wide open, and he could see the sands of the execution pit a few inches from his eyes, unable to be felt by his knees. A wave of sound raced over him, so he could hear screaming, screaming, the sound of people rushing around him, throwing wind on an otherwise still day, but, most importantly... the voice of Gonzales. Pushing himself up to his feet as he regained a sense of where he was, Tubba could see Gonzales cuffed to his right side, still, and Gamma to his left. Directly ahead of him, he could see Galmajo engaging Roy and the execution Magikoopa in battle, sending sparks flying with the typical Magikoopa shapes of a square, circle and triangle. Karubba’s club lay unattended in the sand in front of Tubba. “What....?” Tubba asked, unsure what to make of what was going on. He was so sure he had died. “What happened?” He asked Gonzales, whose orange eyes were full of exasperation. “Really? You’re asking this question now?” Gonzales shook his head in disbelief, and it was then that Tubba saw his right hand was free, the cuffs of Galmajo dangling uselessly off it. “Stop dithering and let us help!” Tubba looked down the line of his friends with shock, and realized that he was holding them all back from moving together in a line and helping Galmajo. Watching the battle in front of him, Tubba gaped with disbelief as Galmajo dropped away from the fight, only for an invisible force to be battering Roy and the execution Magikoopa, despite Galmajo now many paces away. The heavy iron doors around the ring were opening, and countless Hammer Brother Koopan soldiers were pouring out of the gates to suppress the prisoners trying to free themselves. Galmajo tapped his wand on Gonzales’ cuffs, freeing the dark blue Clubba from his binds. Roaring a challenge, Gonzales raced to where the invisible force was battling Roy and the execution Magikoopa, with only his fists as his weapon. At the other end of the line, Tubba’s friends were beating back some of the Hammer Brother soldiers to the best of their ability, still confined by the chains. Galmajo moved over to Tubba, and was tapping the remaining link that bound him with his wand, the one attached to Gamma, when a Koopan soldier tackled him to the ground, spraying sand everywhere. Tubba could feel the magical enchantment on the cuff having weakened. He tore his hand roughly, hoping for it to break, as Galmajo blasted the soldier who tackled him away. The chains didn’t break, to Tubba’s infuriation. Tearing roughly again, the chain stayed unyielding to his enraged attempts to free himself. With the amount of soldiers pouring into the execution area, Galmajo could no longer concern himself with freeing his friends, Tubba realized. The yellow-robed Magikoopa levitated into the air and cast a ring of fire around the still-chained members of their team, preventing the soldiers from pushing through the hungrily licking flames to those still chained. Coughing in the smoke, Tubba watched as Galmajo blasted magic blast after magic blast at the oncoming soldiers, holding his own quite easily. He could see through the licks of fire of Gonzales still fighting with Roy and the execution Magikoopa, with an invisible force joining him. Dibby. Tubba realized, then glanced at Blizzerd. That was what had happened. How had he not seen this escape route? Blizzerd, being a Wizzerd, could conceal the magical energy of Dibby’s as his own copious amounts, thus allowing him to avoid detection, until the time became right to strike. When that happened, Dibby freed the Magikoopa Galmajo, who had saved Tubba from Roy at the last second. That was why was Blizzerd was so calm - he had the plan to save them all. It was ingenious. Tearing at the chains again, and still getting no results, Tubba watched as Gonzales was thrown backwards by Roy, toward the flames lapping hungrily. Gonzales landed heavily in the sand, spraying the fire with it, causing it to reach even greater heights and a more impenetrable wall. Framed by the orange light, Roy raced toward Gonzales like a runaway train. Pushing himself up to his feet, before Roy could strike, Gonzales struck with a fist of his own, throwing the older Koopa Prince backwards. Tubba cheered loudly - his friend would win this battle for them. “I’ve had enough!” Tubba heard the voice loud and clear, over the screams of the crowd and the chaos of battle. “Zis has gone on long enough!” Squinting through the black smoke and the orange flames, Tubba could see Ludwig, with Chubba, Clubbette and Mazette by his side, rising from his throne. Rummaging in his shell, he tore his wand out, and with one swish, dissipated the fire around Tubba and his other chained friends. Tubba could now see him clearly, and saw as he pointed the gray wand at the Gonzales and Roy battle. The blue orb sparked menacingly, and Tubba’s breath caught with horror. “GONZALES!” Tubba shouted as loud as he could, fear echoing through him. “LOOK OUT!” He could hear some Koopan soldiers looking to leap on the advantage of the lack of the flames, he could see Galmajo battling to protect his restricted friends by firing Magikoopa shots at those who got too close, but what concerned him was the giant, blue magic blast of light ploughing through the air toward his best friend. There was nothing he could do. Gonzales was too caught up with Roy to hear Tubba’s furious yell. Dibby was still engaged with the execution Magikoopa, now visible as she had been caught by a few magic shots. Galmajo was doing his utter best to protect the others, leaving Gonzales on his own. Tubba’s belly clenched with horror as he saw, as if in slow motion, the magic blast connect with Gonzales, sending him flying through the crisp air, now clear of the smoke, and land heavily in the sand, shell-down, spraying countless streams of sand as he spun. He rolled to a stop, his orange hair and head lolling awkwardly in Tubba’s direction, and Tubba saw it: the dull, empty eyes. “NO!” Tubba roared with a wave of emotions, sorrow, anger, guilt, fear, fury, all getting lost in a swamp inside his head. “NO!” He shouted again, barely hearing the screaming in the crowd stop and the sounds of other battles cease. He let out a wordless scream, a moan that he had never heard from himself before. It shook his entire body, from the tip of his snout to the slashed bottom of his tail, as if every part of his body was screaming in agony over what had happened. It echoed through him for what seemed to be many years, before with a furious shriek, he yanked the chains binding him to Gamma, hearing it break under his blunt force. Racing forward to Gonzales’ body, kicking Karubba’s club with him, Tubba could barely see through his tears. Gonzales body had landed under the place where Ludwig, Chubba, Clubbette and Mazette lingered. They watched as Tubba threw sand up with his left hand in distress, tears stained across his face, as he saw the glazed over eyes of Gonzales. Pointing with one blood-coloured finger at Chubba, he shouted in immense pain: “How could you!? HOW COULD YOU JUST STAND BY!?” In the silence of the ring and the focus on Tubba, everyone looked at Tubba’s twin with curiosity. Ludwig didn’t bother letting Chubba reply. “Finish it.” He pointed his wand at Tubba, causing the sounds of battle to explode again as Dibby re-engaged the executor in combat, and Galmajo continued trying to beat back Koopan soldier from those who remained chained, as well as Tubba. He couldn’t stop Roy. Roy ran across the deep scour in the earth that Gonzales made, his bald head bent down with the desire to hurt another Clubba. Immense fury seared through Tubba, and without realizing it, he had picked up Karubba’s club, waiting to engage Roy in combat. “No!” Dibby’s voice cut through Tubba’s fury, like a splash of cold water on a hot day. “I understand you want vengeance, but we’re doomed if you stay here! We need to get out of here!” “How?!” Tubba shot back, his fury making him short. Roy was gaining on them, to the point where Tubba could see under his sunglasses, to the amused eyes below them. He was amused! Tubba felt the rage seize him, greater than it ever had in his life. “We’ll teleport to Shooting Star Summit,” Dibby’s voice was fast and hasty, as if she was trying to convince Tubba on the fly. “If anyone can save Gonzales, it’s the Stars. Appeal to them! You wouldn’t give up a chance to save Gonzales?” “What about the others?” Tubba asked, watching as Roy drew even closer. He was barely seconds away from contact. Before Dibby could reply, Tubba lashed out upwards with Karubba’s club, throwing the force of his rage behind it, into the midsection of Roy, sending the Koopa Prince flying high into the air and landing many feet away with a thump in the sand. Blizzerd answered his question - Tubba hadn’t realized how loud he had been talking. “We’ll be FINE! Tubba, GO!” Beside Blizzerd, Tubba could see the determined faces of his friends, all of them certain with letting Tubba go without them. Galmajo landed beside Tubba. “It’s now or never,” he acknowledged Ludwig on the balcony, muttering some sort of spell. “He’s doing one of the most complicated spells I’ve ever seen. If he finishes it, there’s no way we can teleport out of here - it’s an anti-teleportation spell encompassing the whole of the Place of the Unruly. Tubba, we have to go.” As Tubba gave a curt nod, Dibby shouted with relief. “Shooting Star Summit, Galmajo! Shooting Star Summit!” Galmajo swiped his wand above his head, as Tubba kept half an eye on Ludwig, who was still muttering furiously. Feeling something seize beneath him, Tubba grabbed Gonzales’ lifeless arm, before feeling himself get transported through space, a ripping, jerking sensation, far, far away from Gusty Gulch. An appeal to the stars to save Gonzales.